Moving On

Tomorrow, the great Glabe family adventure officially begins. Over the next year, Dave's clinical rotations will take us coast to coast across 11 different states, settling in four of them for 3 months apiece. The first destination: St. George, UT.

Moving is bittersweet. We'll certainly miss the many friends we've made and the natural beauty of Oregon, but we're anticipating great experiences ahead and looking forward to some consistent sunshine:)

I was going through my church bag today, where I found and re-read a copy of Elder Holland's 1999 conference talk entitled "An High Priest of Good Things to Come". A portion of the talk was turned into this video below:

I thought it no coincidence that the talk bears the following resemblances to our own circumstances:

1) Elder Holland was traveling to attend school with his family, consisting of his wife and 2 young children
2) They had a U-Haul trailer with all their earthly possessions inside
3) They were dirt poor
4) They were traveling through St. George, UT
5) Elder Holland and Dave both have dark hair and are stunningly handsome men:)

And that is where I hope the similarities end... I don't want our car to break down in Kannaraville, in spite of the fact that the population has grown to a whopping 318 since Elder Holland's time.

We'll try to keep everyone updated... wish us luck! If we can survive the next 3 days of travel with the kids, we might just make it.

Aly turns 2

Our little girl had a big birthday last week. It's incredible to think that our baby has grown up so much, and yet it's hard to believe she's only been in our lives for 2 years. She is such a joy to us. Despite being sick we celebrated with lots of play time, decorations, lunch on campus with Dad, a special dinner, presents, and oreo cupcakes!

Nolan thought it was great fun too.

First Smiles

We can't get enough of these dimples! Here are some of Nolan's first smiles caught on camera:

Nolan's Baby Blessing

The whole family

Baby Nolan makes 4

Mom and Nolan

Dad and Nolan

Grandpa and Grandma Shurtz and Aunt Katie came from Wenatchee to visit.

Grandma Glabe came from Nebraska to visit

Nolan with his Grandpa

Nolan with Grandma Renae

Nolan and Aunt Katie

First eye exam

Aly had her first "official" comprehensive eye exam today. It is recommended for all children to be examined by an optometrist (not just a pediatrician) between 6-12mo of age, but we put it off a bit longer because Dave has been examining her eyes since day 1. Aly did great - she didn't even flinch when the dilating drops went in, and only fussed about the fact that the doctor kept getting in the way of the movie during retinoscopy. We're happy to report that our little princess appears to have Mom's good eyes - thank goodness she hasn't shown any signs of Dad's nearsightedness! The first picture below documents her reward - a popsicle! She even tolerated the sunglasses for most of the afternoon, which is good since her eyes were dilated. After the drops wore off a bit, we all went to the park and played in the (rare) sunshine.

3D family photos

Every now and then, Dave decides to pick up a new hobby. Recently, he determined that he was going to get into stereo photography (3D photography). He managed to build most of the camera rig himself. We've decided to post some of his first attempts around the house. For those of you who can't cross your eyes well, these will hold little value for you. But if you can, you're in for a treat... 3D photos of the Glabe family (and some other miscellaneous items).

(To view these properly, you'll have to click on the photos, then make your eyes cross until the two photos blend into a third photo in the center. It may help you to hold your finger out in the center of the photos, focus on it, and bring it closer to your nose while noticing when the photos begin to "merge" together. This will probably happen with your finger ~6 inches from your nose - then shift your focus back to the merged center photo and - voila! - the photos appear three-dimensional. If you can't get it to work, Dave suggests some vision therapy to work on your relative convergence ability).

Baby Brother arrives...and finally has a name!

We welcomed little Nolan David Glabe to the world on Sunday, November 28th at 12:06 AM, nearly 3 weeks before his due date. He weighed 6 lbs 9 oz and measured 19.5 inches long. We feel so blessed to have been entrusted with this sweet little spirit. So far he has been a very calm baby. He eats, sleeps, and poops just like he's supposed to and even gained nearly 2 ounces by his first doctor's appointment. Aly is thrilled to have a baby to help take care of, even if it has been a bit of an adjustment for her. She likes to help change diapers, swaddle, and rock him and I even caught her trying to feed him some cereal today. She is a great big sister.

And now for the first week's worth of photos...

Mom and baby Nolan minutes after birth.

Aly's mad face - she isn't sure that this is what she ordered.

Pals already. It didn't take long for her to warm up to Nolan.

Aly tells Nolan all her secrets.

And Nolan tells Aly all of his.

Family photo at the hospital.

Duckie jammies!

Our little guy.

Grandma Renae came to aid in the transition. She was a huge help, and it was great to see Aly warm up to her.

Stay tuned... more photos to come!